Iím looking forward to the challenge, stepping up to more of a leadership role."

The morning after the season ended, Hayward addressed a few of the pressing needs facing the Jazz, as two-thirds of the roster barrels toward free agency. Asked about those changes, he said: "Everybodyís wondering that, players included. Itís going to be an interesting offseason." Those remaining, including him, Favors, Enes Kanter, Alec Burks, Jeremy Evans and Marvin Williams, and whoever joins them, must correct the problems of the past:

ē "Weíve got to get better on the road," Hayward said. "We played pretty well at home, but, for whatever reason, we didnít have the same toughness on the road. That comes from us as players. Itís something we can get better at."

ē "You want to compete for championships, and the best teams are real good defensively," he said. "Their rotations are really solid Ö whether the offense is going or not, the defense has to be there to keep us in games."

ē "Execution down the stretch," he said. "Thatís what good teams do."

As for his own improvement, Hayward said heíll work out mostly at home in Indianapolis, including a couple of hours of skills refinement in the morning, two hours of lifting afterward, and two hours of open gym at night. Two areas of concentrated personal focus: shooting and ball handling.

Heís fully aware he has to elevate his own game. He thinks he can become an All-Star. But his heavy call now is to make sure everybodyís game is lifted.

"Hopefully," he said, "we can round up some of the younger guys and put some work in over the summer to prepare us for next season. We all have to get better."

I'll be happy if we get a full season from him finally. He's ended the past 3 seasons strongly but hasn't been consistent throughout the year especially his shooting.